1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fasteners and their drivers. More particularly, the invention disclosed herein relates to a modular driver and screw system that allows one using them to insert and remove fasteners by applying larger than normal torque loads.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional screws may strip upon insertion or removal, limiting the amount of torque that can be applied and increasing the difficulty of inserting or removing a screw. For example, in orthopedic, craniomaxillofacial, dental, and other forms of surgery, stripped screws can cause safety issues, medical complications, and increased costs. In other fields, such as construction, stripping of screws may result in improper assembly or structural failure.
Many prior attempts have been made to develop new types of screws and drivers that minimize the problems associated with excessive torques being applied to screws and consequently stripping them or destroying their heads so that they no longer perform satisfactorily and/or difficult to remove, etc. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,358,368, 6,682,283, D614,941, D592,043, D535,180, 7,156,598, 4,539,874, 6,398,785 and 6,620,167.
Despite these prior inventions, there is still a need for improved screws and their drivers that will help alleviate the problems encountered with non-performing screws due to damaged heads or stripped threads and removal of incarcerated screws that may not be easily removed via other methods. It is an objective of the present invention to provide such improvements and to increase the maximum torque that can be applied to the screw during insertion and removal.